Burning Cross
by Andivia
Summary: What do you do when you're killed? What do you do when there's a red head trying to force you into servitude? What do you do when everyone around you is trying to decide how you should be living your life? Well there are plenty of answers. This is mine./OC Main Character, hopefully not a Gary Stu and definetely not a bash fic.
1. Chapter 1

Hey there dear readers. Glad you took the time to read my little project here. This is something that's been sitting in my noggin for a while now, and I figured it was time to write it down. Updates might be a little slow given how big the chapters could end uo being, and I'm also helping to write another story with RealmofEmptiness at the same time. But I'll do my best to keep this one going.

I don't really want to spoil anything, so if you have any burning questions that just can't wait to be answered in the story, just send me a message and I'll get back to you.

Other than that, please read, enjoy and hopefully review.

* * *

Story Start

* * *

"Will you die for me?"

…

Those were the words that that made me realize that somewhere along the way I had screwed up. But I'm pretty sure that whatever I did it didn't rate this! Though, I wouldn't really know, seeing as this is my first date ever, but you'd think there'd be a lot less idiots around if that were the case.

It was then that my girlfriend of about a week somehow transformed from a schoolgirl to a young woman in... Is that bondage gear!?

...If this is a wet dream of some sort, just wake me up. This is too weird.

I only met Yuuma about a week ago, that's my girlfriend's name in case you were wondering. Anyway I met her while on the way home from school, she just confessed to me out of nowhere... I'm embarrassed to admit that I just froze in surprise for at least ten seconds. It's not my fault! I don't do... romance or whatever. Anyway, for the last week I've been walking part way to school with her and meeting up when I can spare the time.

I can't think of any reason for... well, this. This being what looks like impending doom when my (I think I'm safe in assuming former at this point) girlfriend creates a spear made out of light.

Sorry if I'm complaining a lot, but this feels like a big deal to me! It only becomes more of a big deal when she throws that spear at me!

I lost all feeling below my waist and just crumpled to the ground when it hit me. If only I lost all feeling around the gaping hole in my stomach... Dear god it hurts!

And then that girl has the gall to just laugh at me and leave.

...What a bitch.

Dammit... Why? What exactly did I do to deserve this kind of death? Just lying here bleeding out in the park, I don't want to die like that!

It was then that I noticed an odd glow coming from my pocket, I could only think that maybe it was that odd leaflet that woman practically forced into my hand. Even when I tried to refuse she just wouldn't leave. Maybe that piece of paper was going to save my life? Ha... There's no way I'm that lucky, if I were I wouldn't even be in this situation.

There was a flash of light and someone appeared. I couldn't make them out, though; my eyesight was becoming too blurry. But I could hear their voice clearly.

"Looks like you are dying. Your wound...oh my, looks like something interesting is happening to you. So it's you... This truly is interesting."

It sounded like a woman's voice, but I didn't recognize it. She then started laughing, as though she'd found something funny... I don't see anything funny about this situation.

"If you are dying, then I'll pick it up. Your life, that is. From now, you will live for me."

The last thing I remember, before the darkness consumed my vision entirely, was crimson hair. And my last thought, was that it looked so much like fresh blood.

That color... I think I hate it.

* * *

The boy lurched up, out of his comfortable bed, clutching at the place where he should have been impaled. It took a moment for his panic to subside and give way to the realization that he was in his own room back at home. After removing his hand from his abdomen and checking that no, there really wasn't a gaping hole where his innards should be, he let out a loud and long sigh of relief. It had probably just been a bad dream.

The boy's name was Kiyoshi Tsukino. First name first. The sole male member of the Kuoh Academy Kendo team. Standing at five foot eight with messy black hair and blue eyes. He wouldn't really stand out in a crowd if not for his vaguely European features. A result of him being the son of both an English teacher, and a Japanese soldier. Due to somewhat uncomfortable circumstances, he has found himself living alone since before high school.

The home he lived in was quite comfortable. It was located in a street full of western style houses, his mother had once thought of the place as a little slice of home and had immediately moved into one of the houses there. That was the house he still lived in. With two floors and three bedrooms, it was quite a bit larger than average. That was without taking into account the back yard with a useful shed with all sorts of objects stored inside. It would have been impossible to afford this home, if not for his father sending him money every month for bills. Despite that Kiyoshi still had to work part time at a cafe to earn enough for the various other essentials.

He allowed himself to just lie there and bask in the peace for a moment, before looking over to the desk at his side and checking the time. The clock there showed him that it was 05:30. About an hour earlier than he would get up, but the shock from that dream had gotten his adrenaline pumping and he didn't feel like he'd be sleeping any time soon. So he got up, got dressed into a tracksuit and started his morning routine.

It was a simple routine. Get dressed into exercise clothes then make and eat breakfast. Afterwards he would spend up to an hour doing his morning exercises such as jogging, press ups or practicing his sword skills. Afterwards he would shower and change into his school uniform. It was a routine he had been using for years, and it had kept him in good shape for any sports he'd like to try. Only, for some reason his exercises didn't feel like they were working this morning. It was like his level of fitness had multiplied overnight. It was bizarre, but he couldn't think of an explanation and his only solution was to up the difficulty of his exercise tomorrow.

With his routine finished Kiyoshi grabbed his bag, a fair sized sports bag since he took his own sword to practice Kendo drills, before heading out to school. It wasn't a particularly long walk, maybe half an hour at most. But he still left a little early, because for the past week he'd been meeting Yuuma and walking part way with her. Unfortunately that little detour proved to be wasted effort today. Despite waiting longer than normal Yuuma didn't show up, so Kiyoshi had to walk all the way on his own with barely any time to spare before school started.

The morning went fairly normal from there. The only odd thing being the antics of the perverted trio... Although at this point they don't really count as odd any more. But seriously, bringing those kind of magazines to school? Those three just keep digging themselves a bigger hole. It's a wonder that they haven't been tossed out of school yet. All of that welcome normalcy didn't quite settle Kiyoshi though, there was just a feeling of wrongness to the day. Like he was missing something obvious, the fact that he felt as though he had an oncoming migraine to top it off wasn't helping.

His restlessness must have showed because Murayama, the relatively tall brunette from the Kendo club, stopped him as he grabbed his bag at the end of lessons. "Kiyo-kun?"

He lifted the bag onto his shoulder while turning to her. "Hm? Is something wrong Murayama-Chan?" She gave him an odd look somewhere between a put and a glare. "You've been spaced out almost the whole day, I should be asking you that." He blinked for a moment, thinking back. "Oh, right. Sorry. Just an odd morning, didn't help that Yuuma was nowhere to be seen on the way." It was her turn to blink in confusion, tilting her head to the side with a look of thought. "Yuuma? Who's that?" Kiyoshi had been about to leave, but that answer stopped him in his tracks. Derailing his thought process entirely.

"Yuuma. I introduced her to you at the Kendo club just the other day."

"Hmmm. Nope. I don't remember anyone with that name."

Kiyoshi couldn't do anything but stare in confusion. It wasn't like Murayama to just forget meeting someone after a few days. Especially someone she took an instant dislike to, though he couldn't for the life of him think why she did.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?"

He was half tempted to say no, but he couldn't really explain what was wrong, could he? He didn't even know himself. It just felt as though this whole day was _wrong_. But there wasn't anything he could do about it, so he simply waved off her concern and went to Kendo practice.

He ended up being the last one to leave, practicing until the sun went down before finally leaving. The practice had been calming, but it hadn't answered any questions. They had only gotten worse when none of the other members of the Kendo club could remember Yuuma. It was incredibly frustrating for him.

He was so distracted by the questions in his head that he hardly realized where he was walking until he was practically standing in a fountain. It took a moment for him to realize exactly where he was.

"Ah, this is the place that dream ended." For a moment he just stood there, wondering why he had walked in this direction of all places. Then a feeling of overwhelming dread crashed down on his shoulders.

"This is rare, to meet someone like you in a place like this."

Kiyoshi whirled around with a grunt of surprise to see a man standing twenty meters away, wearing a pale grey trench coat that made him look like some sort of detective. He was undoubtedly the source of the feeling.

Despite that feeling, and in spite of the sweat forming on his brow, Kiyoshi forced himself to respond. "Really? What's so odd about seeing a student take the long way home?"

"Ha, cute..." Then something unbelievable happened, wings black as night erupted from the man's back. Not disturbing his clothes in the slightest. "But I already know what you are."

Kiyoshi almost took a step back when the man's wings spread, but a moment of grim determination had him step forwards instead. To him, this was the culmination of all the out of place incidents of the past day. Running was discarded as an option before it ever really became a thought. "Honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about." While speaking he unzipped the bag hanging from his shoulder.

"Hm? Still playing dumb? Then what's with that aggressive stance?" The man cocked his head to the side for a moment before walking forward. "...Wait, are you a "stray"? If you have no Master then that would explain a few things."

This wasn't a pleasant situation. There was an air of barely restrained violence that could explode at any moment. The tension was almost killing Kiyoshi. He knew plenty about fighting, his favorite hobbies revolved around it in fact, but fighting a man twice his size that definitely wasn't human was not an appealing thought. He couldn't make the first move either, because that man might be able to use those same spears as Yuuma. So it was better to wait for him to get as close as possible. He didn't have to wait long.

The man stopped, a spear of pale blue light appearing within his right hand. While twirling it he spoke. "Humph. I don't feel any presence of your Master nor your comrades. I don't see anything that is trying to hide its presence either. And there's no magic-circle appearing here. According to the current situation, you are a "Stray". So it won't be a problem if I kill you..."

Kiyoshi moved the instant the word "kill" left the man's mouth. The man approaching had halved the distance between them, but it was still enough room for the man to throw the spear. Despite the fact that the force of Kiyoshi's rapid charge was enough to crack the pavement and launch him towards the man, that fact didn't change.

The man pulled back his arm to throw the spear. Kiyoshi reached into his bag.

The man threw his arm forward, about to release the spear.

Kiyoshi gripped something inside the bag as he threw the bag towards the man's face.

The sudden action caught the man off guard. Rather than throw his spear through the bag and risk missing, he aborted the attack and instead swept the bag aside with his left hand. With the same movement he instead thrust his spear where he guessed Kiyoshi's torso would be. The spear brushed past the bag as it leapt forward, easily slicing through the material. As the bag left the man's vision, his eyes widened a fraction.

The spear had managed to connect, but had only managed to scrape Kiyoshi's cheek. The boy had ducked far lower than the man had expected, practically kneeling in front of him. And he was holding a wooden sword. A bokken.

Kiyoshi thrust the sword forward far faster than the man could react, it impacted right below his sternum and drove all of the air from his lungs. The strike had enough force to knock him back a step even as he hunched forwards.

Kiyoshi didn't abandon his offence there. While standing he gripped the man by the sides of his head, dragging his face down and driving his knee into it.

The power behind that hit should have put his opponent on the ground permanently. Kiyoshi didn't want to take chances though so he readied his bokken for an overhead strike.

Only to be forced back when he was nearly bisected by a glowing blue spear.

Kiyoshi attempted to step forward into striking distance only to be once more repelled when the man desperately swung for him once again.

This was bad. The longer this went on, the more that man would recover and the more exhausted Kiyoshi would be. His only real option was to use the environment in some way.

That became difficult when the man started a relentless, rage filled, advance, punctuating each step with a one handed thrust from his spear that forced Kiyoshi to dodge and weave as he retreated to avoid becoming a pincushion.

He was pushed back further and further until he was well past his original start point and felt his back impact something hard. Seeing a momentary opening the man gripped his spear with both hands and thrust forward with all of his might, intent on nailing Kiyoshi to the obstruction. Unfortunately for him he was a moment too slow, allowing Kiyoshi to dodge right, as the man instead impaled what Kiyoshi had backed into: A large tree.

That momentary setback wouldn't stop the man for long though, he simply let his original spear dissipate before attempting to summon another... And being slammed into the tree for his trouble, when Kiyoshi grabbed his shirt and threw him into it. Kiyoshi pulled back his arm and launched a punch straight towards his opponent's throat, trying his best to take him out. It was Kiyoshi's turn to be taken off guard when the man dropped down under his arm. Kiyoshi was absolutely stunned when his arm didn't just hit the tree. it smashed right _through_. It would have been a lot more impressive if it didn't get stuck when he tried to pull it out.

Light condensed in his enemy's hand, forming into a spear while he was trapped. From his position, crouched underneath Kiyoshi's fist, it would be child's play for him to run Kiyoshi through. That was exactly what he attempted to do.

Unfortunately for him, that moment it took for his spear to form, was long enough for Kiyoshi to come to his senses and lash out with kick, forcing the man to block. But, because of his position, he was forced to take it on his forearm rather than the spear. That act of desperation knocked the man out of his crouched position with enough force for him to land four or five feet away.

It bought Kiyoshi just enough time to gather his strength and tear his arm out of the tree.

The man was back on his feet. Looking totally fine at that.

Other than his torn sleeve and the scratch on his cheek, Kiyoshi was no worse for wear either.

Then the sound of laughing rang out through the park. A small sound at first, but it soon grew into an uncontrollable sound before suddenly dying down.

The man could only look on in confusion as Kiyoshi laughed to his heart's content with a smile of excited joy on his face.

"Aha, sorry. I must be an odd person. We're trying to kill each other right now, but I can't help but enjoy a fight as good as this one."

A brief moment passed before a low chuckle escaped from the man's lips, quickly followed by a vicious grin. "No, go right ahead. I understand the feeling completely."

Kiyoshi nodded his head in acceptance. "Ah, in that case. I want to make a deal."

"Oh? And what might that be? No matter how much you beg, I'll be killing you here." Kiyoshi lightly laughed for a moment longer, before his face morphed into a predatory grin. "How about, if I win you answer all of my questions?"

The man scoffed. "Ha, like there's a chance of that. Fine, since I'm not going to lose to a Devil like you, I'll accept. You'll be dying soon enough anyway."

The man smirked, the kind that says "I know something you don't" before launching his spear towards Kiyoshi.

It was a pointless attack, Kiyoshi could easily see it coming at this point and simply stepped aside. The spear passed right by Kiyoshi without even touching him, Kiyoshi was ready to move forward the moment it passed and with the man standing virtually in melee range it would only take a moment for Kiyoshi to be in striking range.

But when the man simply pointed a single finger upwards Kiyoshi couldn't help but half-turn while looking where the man pointed. Only to reflexively raise an arm to block a falling lamppost. Dropping his bokken in the process.

The next moment, Kiyoshi stepped to the side on some sort of intuition, shifting his arm to hold the post so it didn't bash his head in, then another spear passed right where he had been. The weight of the post shifted, the post mustn't have been completely severed before. Kiyoshi grabbed it with his other hand to compensate while turning towards the man. Who had hopped back a few more meters and was readying another spear.

This was a bad situation. The post wasn't really an issue, but it had allowed the man to gain precious space to attack from a distance. Kiyoshi was undoubtedly at a disadvantage now.

At least until he shifted his grip in order to more securely grab the pole, and did something ridiculous. When the man threw his second spear, Kiyoshi swung the lamppost like a bat. A ridiculously heavy bat, it didn't help at how unwieldy of a bat it was. But it was a bat nonetheless. And it was long enough to reach the man. The spear met the arc of the improvised bat at about halfway, tearing right through it even as the bat slammed into the man's left arm. The spear was deflected just enough to leave a deep cut on Kiyoshi's left shoulder, but the bat would have certainly left damage of it's own on the man.

It was the first significant exchange between the two. And if the way Kiyoshi fell down to his knee while gripping his arm and the unknown man yelled in pain when he pushed himself to his feet while cradling his arm which was now bent at an odd angle... It had been a crippling blow for both fighters.

Yet after a moment, when the pain began to subside for the two, they couldn't help but laugh. It was kind of ridiculous, how they couldn't seem to gain a significant advantage. But the peace only lasted for a moment. As soon as the pain became bearable, Kiyoshi broke into a sprint as he closed the distance to his enemy. The other man formed a spear in his uninjured right hand.

Kiyoshi cleared the short distance between them too quickly for the man to throw it, but he still had the advantage of reach. Kiyoshi wasn't in as bad a spot as he had been though, despite the pain in his arm he could still use both arms while his opponent certainly couldn't use his left arm. So Kiyoshi kept trying to circle around to the man's left, the man might have been using his spear single handed almost the whole time but without his left arm he wouldn't be able to cover his left side effectively.

This left them in a form of stalemate. Kiyoshi couldn't be too aggressive without a weapon, but neither could the other man since his broken arm was making movement incredibly painful.

But that had to end eventually.

Kiyoshi stepped in a hole, maybe a hare burrow, and stumbled.

That was all the other man needed. He thrust forward once more, aiming center mass with the intent to kill. Kiyoshi desperately tried to twist out of the way, succeeding only by sacrificing what little footing he had and falling.

He landed heavily on the ground with the man stepping over him to deliver a final blow.

He desperately tried to lash out with his right arm, putting everything he had into one final struggle.

It was pointless, the spear would inevitably pierce through his arm and nail it to his body as it proceeded to pierce his chest.

But the unthinkable happened.

A burst of violet flames erupted around his hand for a moment, leaving behind a simple silver crucifix about the size of a sword hilt with the bottom attached to his wrist by a thin chain.

Surprised momentarily halted both combatants, before they simultaneously recovered and once more attempted to kill each other with all they had. But something more unexpected happened.

When Kiyoshi lashed out again, a pillar of violet flames erupted between himself and the other man, enveloping the man's arm. The man yelled in pain, his spear shattering like glass as he hastily withdrew his arm and leapt back. The burn wasn't as bad as it could have been, he might even be able to continue fighting for a while longer, but it would certainly be difficult.

For a moment the man remained still a few meters from Kiyoshi, slightly hunched over with a look of suppressed pain on his face, unable to do anything at all about the pain in his right arm while his left was broken.

Then, when Kiyoshi rose, he let out a short bitter laugh. "Guess this is my loss, brat..."

Kiyoshi took a step forward, smiling calmly and raising his right fist. "You sure? I'm still ready to continue."

The man scoffed while replying. "Yeah. There's no way the local princesses would ignore a Longinus flaring up in their territory. But to think I'd find Incinerate Anthem in a backwater country like this..." He said the last part with a small bitter smile on his face, as though realizing he never had a chance from the start.

Kiyoshi brought his hand to his chin in a thinking position. "Honestly I have no idea what you're talking about. All of this crap about masters, princesses and whatever this 'Incinerate Anthem' is, it's going right over my head."

His statement obviously surprised the other man, the look on his face clearly showed shock and disbelief. "How could you not know anything? Hasn't your master told you?"

Kiyoshi crossed his arms over his chest with an annoyed look. "Oi, didn't I just say I don't know what you're talking about? Why do you think I want you to answer my questions?"

The man paused for a moment. Then despite the pain burst out into uncontrollable laughter. "Ahahaha, seriously? What's your name brat?"

Kiyoshi scowled at being called a brat but answered nonetheless. "Kiyoshi Tsukino. Your turn."

The man suddenly stopped laughing, a shell-shocked look on his face for just a moment. Before bursting out into laughter great enough to bring him to his knees. "Ahahahaha, g-give me a moment here. Haha, ha. All right. My name is Dohnaseek. Ha. To think I'd be beaten by a Devil who hasn't even been reincarnated for a full day. How embarrassing."

"Hey. The way you say that, it's like you know who I am."

The now named Dohnaseek smiled while standing. "That's because I do, though I had no idea you were the wielder of Incinerate Anthem. Anyway, you had questions. Ask them so... Crap." Dohnaseek looked off into the distance, when he followed his vision Kiyoshi could easily see a handful of figures with bat-like wings. Before he could ask any questions Dohnaseek interrupted him. "Hey kid, you want answers you'll have to take a leap of faith. I don't plan on sticking around for the cavalry."

Dohnaseek extended his burnt arm as an intricate glowing circle appeared around his feet, he was obviously saying that Kiyoshi would have to grab his hand if he wanted answers. Obviously Kiyoshi wasn't too enthusiastic. "And how do I know that this isn't going to end badly for me?"

Dohnaseek smiled, a far too wide smile that showed way too many teeth. Like a shark circling it's prey. "You don't."

They stood there for a moment.

The student, and the stranger.

Then Kiyoshi took his hand, Dohnaseek wincing as he did.

For a moment there was an incredibly bright light.

Then they were gone.

Miles away, on almost the other side of town, there was a flash of light. After a moment it dissipated showing the two in question.

Kiyoshi took a look around, recognizing the place. They had ended up just a mile or so down the road from the old church. As far as Kiyoshi knew it was unoccupied, though given a moment's thought he might come to think Dohnaseek had taken it over.

Kiyoshi turned around to see Dohnaseek had taken a seat on a bench at the side of the road. "I'm really gonna have to learn that trick."

"Ha, don't expect any help from me. The only reason I brought you along is because we had a deal, right?" Despite the injuries he had sustained, Dohnaseek didn't seem particularly angry about his loss. He looked and sounded more like he'd simply lost some kind of game, an annoyed sort of disappointment. So it was easy for Kiyoshi to brush it off and take a seat next to him.

"Yeah. How about we start right at the top. What the hell is going on?"

Dohnaseek let out a tired sigh, like he'd been expecting that question but not looking forward to it.

"Alright. Where to start... Ah, I got it. The day you were born, you were given a sacred gear by god. They're like powers or tools that are fused to the soul of some humans when they're born, normally they activate it before they turn ten but sometimes it takes until their teens like you. Incinerate Anthem, that crucifix of yours, is one of the powerful ones..."

Kiyoshi raised a hand while interrupting. "So, what exactly does this 'Incinerate Anthem' do?"

Dohnaseek frowned in irritation before answering. "I'm no expert, but the rumors say it creates giant crosses of holy fire that can even kill a god. It's supposed to be the holy cross that Jesus was crucified on. Can I continue?"

"Ah, sure."

"Alright then. A few weeks ago somebody managed to learn that you had Incinerate Anthem, and that you hadn't activated it. Whoever that was then made the information public."

Kiyoshi frowned. "How the hell would they know I had it? I didn't even know I had it. And why tell everyone?"

Dohnaseek just shrugged. "You got me, that stuff's above my pay grade. All I know is we were told to observe you, and then we were told to kill you."

Kiyoshi scratched his head while responding. "Okay... I have no idea how to feel about being killed. Hold on, why am I not still dead?"

"I'm guessing here. But I'd say you were reincarnated by one of the Devil's in this city."

The shock froze Kiyoshi for a moment. Before he managed to get a question out. "Alright, you've told me why I got killed. Now what do you mean 'Devils'?"

"Oh you know, treacherous creatures born of shadow and darkness that exist to torment the souls of humans. As a fallen angel, it's my job to exterminate them when I can. Though that's a bit difficult with the ceasefire."

Kiyoshi just stared at Dohnaseek. An expression clearly stating 'that's absolutely crazy. I hope the rest sounds less crazy.'

Dohnaseek chuckled in response before continuing. "Alright. There are three groups you need to know about. Angels. They serve the biblical god and wield powers of light like me. Fallen Angels. That's me. We're Angels that have broken away from heaven. Then there are Devils. They're the most diabolical creatures I've ever come across. All of them are obsessed with power and only follow the strongest among them, they're like animals competing for the top spot. They even resurrect humans as their slaves to fight for them. Right now, there's a ceasefire between all three factions. But not too long ago we were at each other's throats."

Kiyoshi was stunned for a moment. Before one point struck him. "Wait hold on, you're telling me I got resurrected to become some Devil's slave!?"

Dohnaseek stood up, turning to leave. "Pretty much, kid."

Kiyoshi angrily shot up, looking at the entire world like he was prepared for a fight but didn't know where it was. "Like hell! I'm not gonna let someone I've never met decide my fate."

Dohnaseek looked back for a moment, then smiled. "Heh, good for you..." He then started to walk away, headed in the direction of the church. "...Give 'em hell kid." Dohnaseek laughed for a moment, then spread his wings and took off. Leaving Kiyoshi standing alone next to a bench in the middle of the street.

It took him a moment to get the pun. He couldn't help a snort of amusement before he too turned and walked away. He now understood at least a little of the situation. That was better than he had this morning. But there was something else that he needed to do as soon as possible.

He needed to find out who resurrected him.

The journey home was uneventful. It was as though Kiyoshi had already used up all of his random encounters for the night. Not that he was complaining, once the adrenaline wore off he was really starting feel the pain. So after arriving home he microwaved a frozen meal, patched himself up, ate and then went to bed. The blissful abyss of sleep was a welcome break.

Though he really couldn't deny it. Fighting the fallen angel Dohnaseek had been the most entertaining challenge he'd had in a while.

* * *

The next day started off much like the last. Kiyoshi was surprised that he wasn't feeling any of the aches and pains he expected when he woke up. In fact, other than the cut to his shoulder he was feeling absolutely fine. There really were some upsides to being resurrected by the looks of it.

After getting up and dressed he proceeded onto his training, pushing himself as far as he possibly could to try and figure out his new limits. He made little to no progress and quickly decided that tomorrow he'd have to resort to desperate measures. Maybe carrying boulders would be a good starting point?

It was when he got back home and showered that he realized one very annoying fact. He'd left his school bag back at the fountain. He'd completely forgotten about it after tossing it at Dohnaseek. That led to him remembering he'd also left his bokken. Upon realizing how much he'd forgotten last night, he did the only reasonable thing. He head-butted the wall to try and forget his stupidity. That was a mistake. Now he'd have to replace the tiles in the shower as well as his bokken. There wasn't anything he could do about it yet though, so he went to get changed into his school uniform before eating.

After eating he once more made the familiar journey to school. Since he didn't have to wait for Yuuma he made it to school quite early and went to the Kendo club. It was normally pretty quiet in the mornings. It gave him some time to practice without being interrupted. Of course he had to borrow one of the club spares, but he still managed to get some decent practice in. Which he was quite surprised about, maybe it was paranoia but he was starting to get the feeling that something was about to go very wrong. Like the calm before the storm.

That feeling persisted right up until he made it to class. Taking his regular seat he sat down, waiting the last ten minutes until the start of his first class.

He couldn't explain that feeling when the door to the classroom opened. It didn't seem any worse when a vaguely familiar black haired girl walked in. Alarm bells started ringing when he saw what she was carrying.

The girl walked up to his desk and placed his school bag in front of him.

The world seemed to freeze.

"Kaichou noticed you forgot this next to the fountain. Please be more attentive in the future, Tsukino-san."

A light bulb lit up in Kiyoshi's mind when she said 'Kaichou'.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to be more careful in the future Shinra-san."

Kiyoshi tried very hard to smile at the vice-president of the Student Council. It became very difficult after her next sentence.

"See that you are. Also, Kaichou would like to speak with you regarding your actions last night."

After a moment of silent confusion the classroom started whispering about what he could have been doing. Kiyoshi didn't really have a good reputation outside of school since he was always getting into fights when he was younger. The rest of his classmates probably assumed he slipped back into old habits... They weren't exactly wrong.

Kiyoshi swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling very dry.

"Is that so? Does she have a particular time and place in mind?"

Tsubaki adjusted the position of her glasses.

"Kaichou would like to meet you in the student council office at your earliest convenience. Please bear in mind that this is a serious matter, and shouldn't be delayed."

She then turned around and left. Just like that. And Kiyoshi was suddenly aware that he had been living alongside some very odd things for much longer than he had ever imagined.

Despite that interruption, classes continued as normal right up until lunchtime. For a moment, Kiyoshi considered not turning up at the student council office. It felt like a very bad idea to just walk into the lion's den like that. But then, they'd probably end up chasing him down if he didn't show up. At least if he went there now there'd be plenty of witnesses just outside the door in case something happened.

So, with that thought in mind, he made his way to the student council office.

It wasn't until he actually got to the door and raised his hand to knock that he actually stopped to consider one important thing. The fallen angel, Dohnaseek, had managed to completely defy physics and teleport them miles away with ease. How hard would it be to cut off all noise in a room?

The gears started turning in his head, gradually turning his decision from 'attend' to 'run for the hills'. But on the other hand he'd be going to school with these people, so he'd just be delaying the inevitable even if he didn't turn up. It was a seriously difficult decision. Go now, or go when he's better prepared?

Then the door opened.

"Oh?"

And he suddenly found himself staring at a girl with shoulder length reddish brown hair.

"Ah! You must be Tsukino-san!"

Kiyoshi suddenly felt like a rabbit caught in headlights.

"Eh, yes?"

That was not a response that would let him leave. Before he had time to turn away the girl grabbed his still raised arm by the wrist and practically dragged him inside the room.

"Kaichou! Tsukino-san has arrived!"

At that moment, Kiyoshi only had one thought. "Damn."

The student council room resembled some kind of office. And, unfortunately for Kiyoshi, it looked like the whole student council was there at the moment. Most of them looked like they were busy with work of some kind, but Tsubasa was standing behind the council president Souna. It looked like she was acting as some kind of bodyguard. Given the situation, that wouldn't really be surprising.

Souna herself looked like she was busy with paperwork until she was addressed, then she glanced up towards the two people entering. She then pushed the paperwork to the side and gave the new arrival her full attention. "I see. But wasn't there something you had to do Tomoe?"

The girl that had dragged Kiyoshi in the room suddenly clicked her fingers while saying "ah, right!" Before turning around. "I'll get right to it. Bye Tsukino-san!" And then practically bounced out of the room.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Kiyoshi, and he couldn't help but twirl around to get another look at her as she left. She couldn't be a Devil as well, right?

"Take a seat, Tsukino-san."

He turned back to face Sona again, who was motioning for him to take a seat in front of her desk.

Kiyoshi really didn't feel like it was a good idea to take a seat in what was probably enemy territory, but at this point he couldn't really get much more vulnerable so complied.

Souna was the first to begin the conversation. "Now then, Tsukino-san. First of all; I would like to clarify what your relationship is with the Fallen Angels presently in this city."

Kiyoshi involuntarily sat up a little straighter at that inquiry. He wasn't expecting such a direct approach, he could only guess that meant she was aware he was with Dohnaseek yesterday... Well, he had never intended to make it easy for her to begin with.

"Fallen Angels? Have I really met such people?"

Souna closed her eyes momentarily and when she spoke again her voice was a little sharper. Showing that she knew exactly what Kiyoshi was doing and that she didn't appreciate it in the slightest.

"Yes, last night in the park at approximately nine thirty-eight. My peerage and I spotted an individual resembling you leaving with a fallen angel. Shortly afterwards, we located your discarded possessions... This will proceed much quicker if you would kindly cooperate, Tsukino-san."

Kiyoshi leaned forward slightly, bringing his fist up to his mouth as though in thought.

"Oh dear, it seems as though there was an interesting occurrence after I lost my things..."

He paused for a moment, spotting something out of the corner of his eye.

"Is that a chess board?"

That single sentence had an immediate effect on the whole student council. They all just completely stopped working, glancing in the direction in which Kiyoshi had spotted the board. Souna didn't have to look, she knew exactly where it was and assumed Kiyoshi was simply stalling. Then the moment passed and the rest of the council returned to their work.

"Your attempts at diversion are quite transparent, Tsukino-san. Please, return to the topic at hand. I am well aware that it was, in fact, you leaving with the Fallen Angel. I would appreciate it if you could simply answer my previous question."

Kiyoshi leaned back again before answering.

"Tell you what, if you beat me in a game of chess I'll answer your question."

If his earlier question had disrupted the student council, that statement had just ruined any chance of them returning to work. Everyone stopped, someone dropped a cup, another person did some sort of dry spit-take, and someone just laughed out loud. Kiyoshi started feeling as though he'd made a mistake when Souna smiled.

"Very well then."

Tsubaki left her position behind Souna and moved to collect the board.

Kiyoshi suddenly didn't look as confident as he had.

"I've made a horrible mistake haven't I?"

Nobody answered. They didn't really have to, the fact that half of them had moved their seats close enough to watch was answer enough.

The silence as Tsubaki retrieved the board and set it up was enough for Kiyoshi to stop and think for a second. It was then he realized that he had made a very big mistake just because he started panicking. A stupid risk because he wanted to get rid of the problem that was the student council president as quickly as possible. This could bite him in the ass.

When Tsubaki finished placing the pieces everyone was silent, watching Kiyoshi expectantly. The white pieces were on his side. Souna broke the silence.

"Do you know how to play?"

Despite the tension Kiyoshi forced himself to crack a smile.

"I wouldn't bet on it if I couldn't."

Then he moved his first piece, and the game began.

* * *

It wasn't going well for Kiyoshi. Thirty turns in and he was beginning to feel outmaneuvered. Despite that, he couldn't really help but enjoy the match. He was actually surprised when the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, having completely lost track of time while playing.

It was almost disappointing. So when Souna said, "Shall we continue after class?" Kiyoshi was saying, "Sure, I have time to finish the game." rather than "Sorry I have work".

It wasn't until after he said it that, that he remembered exactly why they were playing in the first place. He spent the rest of the day mentally kicking himself, right up until the moment the bell rang at the end of classes.

He didn't even have a chance to change his mind and run away because Tsubaki arrived just as he packed his bag away to escort him to the student council room.

When they made it to the student council room, everyone had a seat ready to watch the final moves of the game. That just made the fact that he knew he was losing even worse.

He took the seat in front of Sona's desk once more.

"Alright, let's get this over with."

* * *

Kiyoshi slumped back in his chair after he finally lost. The game had ended in fifteen more moves. Kiyoshi remembered the average number of moves between two equally skilled players was around forty, their game lasted forty-five. Despite knowing he never had a chance to win, that made him feel a little better.

Though he suspected she may have gone easy on him near the end.

"Alright, you got me. Ask away."

"Very well then, would you please answer my original question?"

Kiyoshi made himself comfortable and rested his head on his hand. "There is no relationship between myself and the fallen angels. That was the first time I met the guy in the park, and he tried to kill me before I kicked his ass and pried some answers out of him."

Souna raised an eyebrow, Kiyoshi waved his other hand to her in a nonchalant gesture.

"I made a bet with him too. I just happened to win that one, so he had to answer all of my questions."

Souna leaned forward while pushing her glasses further up her nose.

"And what questions were you asking?"

"You could probably reduce all of my questions down to 'what the hell is going on?'"

There was a long moment where nobody said anything while Souna processed that.

"Could you elaborate, Tsukino-san?"

Kiyoshi started scratching his head with an irritated expression. This whole interrogation felt really uncomfortable for him.

"He came up to me asking who my master was and came to the conclusion that I was a 'stray'..." Kiyoshi then clicked his fingers with a sort of irritated 'Eureka' expression. "Damn I forgot to ask what he meant by that."

For some reason, Souna and the other members of the student council seemed surprised. Startled even, by what he'd said. Souna was, once again, the next to speak.

"Tsukino-san, could you please explain your situation. It seems a number of our assumptions have been in error."

Kiyoshi just stayed silent for a long moment with a completely straight face while he tried to some up the events of the last two nights. It was while he was doing that that he realized just how much had changed in _two nights_.

"Okay. I got it. Two nights ago I got killed off by my girlfriend, she happened to be a fallen angel. Someone I didn't see clearly apparently resurrected me and left me in my room with no explanation. The next night I ran into another fallen angel that tried to kill me and I managed to beat a few answers out of him. Then it was today. I'm pretty sure you know the rest."

Another moment of stunned silence. Broken by the only other male in the room.

"Like hell! There's no way a guy could take on a fallen angel a day after becoming a devil!"

Kiyoshi leaned back in his chair, grinning at Saji.

"Just because you couldn't do it, doesn't mean I can't."

The taunting tone of voice ignited a fire under Saji's pride, and he rocketed to his feet. Kiyoshi was a split second behind him and was ready for a fight the moment he was upright.

"You're full of crap! I could knock you down any-"

"Enough Saji." The threat of imminent violence was cut off immediately by the stern voice of the student council president. That glare of hers could probably cut through steel, so it wasn't surprising that Saji wilted back into his seat. Her gaze snapped onto Kiyoshi, who was still standing. "Tsukino-san. While I might understand your caution and animosity given the events you described, I will not excuse any violent action within these grounds." Without moving a single muscle, an aura of power flared around Souna Shitori. The display was enough to easily make her the most dangerous thing Kiyoshi had ever encountered. "Are we clear?"

Kiyoshi smiled at her beatifically. "Sure, crystal clear." Then he promptly turned around and headed for the door. Only to have his path promptly blocked by a tall blue haired girl and a shorter brown haired girl wearing green stockings.

The calm voice of the president came from the exact spot she'd been in the whole time. "We aren't finished yet Tsukino-san."

Tsukino stared calmly at the people blocking his path as he answered. "Two days ago I didn't even know people like you existed. I've given you the only answers I have. All I've got left are questions." He then half-turned to glance over at Souna. "So are you going to let me leave or is something inexcusable going to happen?"

Souna's glare let up by the slightest amount, before her eyes narrowed in an expression Kiyoshi couldn't read. "If what you say is true, then there's no reason for us to come into conflict." Kiyoshi felt muscles he hadn't known were tensing relax for a moment. "However, I cannot allow an uneducated Devil, that may become a stray, to wander unsupervised in my territory." Kiyoshi didn't understand exactly what that meant. But he still tensed up again and was about to take his chances trying to break through the two in front of him when-

"It falls on us to teach you, then. In order to avoid such an unfortunate outcome."

Kiyoshi froze after hearing that, not quite understanding what she had just said. A moment later and he finally came up with a suitably eloquent response.

"Eh!? Wait you mean I'm a Devil!?"

* * *

Chapter End

* * *

And that's a wrap for the first chapter. I'd like to thank Tony0423 for betaing this chapter before I posted it and RealmOfEmptiness for being my sounding board when I was coming up with the storyline.


	2. Chapter 2

Time for another note, eh? Well sorry, not much to say. The only thing I can really say is not to expect weekly updates. The only reason I got this out so quick was because I had five days off. Plus, I'll be working on the next chapter of Armoured Collection next, so it'll be at least two weeks until the next update.

That aside, I hope you'll all be patient as you read, enjoy and hopefully review.

* * *

Chapter Start

* * *

Unfortunately Kiyoshi didn't have time to stick around for his first lesson. So after agreeing to stay behind again tomorrow he left and returned to his normal daily routine.

It was odd. He managed to spend the rest of the day without something ridiculous happening. It was starting to make him feel a little on edge when he turned up to school and things were still going as planned.

If there was anything he could say was out of the ordinary, it would have to be something completely ordinary.

He was walking through the crowded school corridor, on his way to meet Souna so that he could learn a bit more about what was going on. When out of the corner of his eye he saw something familiar.

It was red. The same deep colour of fresh blood.

His eyes immediately snapped onto it, his body turning to face it beyond the sea of bodies. And he recognised it as a head of hair. A head of hair with a very familiar shade.

What were the chances? Could that possibly be the unknown person that had resurrected him and effectively ditched him in a situation he was almost totally unprepared for?

The person turned to face him. And he was suddenly hit with the realisation that he already knew that person. It was Rias Gremory. Unfortunately beyond her name and status as a foreign student, Kiyoshi didn't know a thing about her.

it was only when he realised she was actually looking at him that he realised he was staring. He didn't have any particular desire to be rude to someone just because of their hair colour and was about to turn away, when she smiled.

He looked around, almost certain that there was no reason for her to be smiling at him. But there was nobody else around him paying attention to her. It was odd, he'd never spoken to her even once, so there was no reason to pay attention to him let alone smile.

When he looked back she was already walking away. Accompanied by who Kiyoshi recognised as Akeno Himejima.

That encounter. It left him almost certain that Rias Gremory was a Devil. It was just a gut feeling supported by circumstantial evidence, but he was convinced that she was the one that resurrected him.

And for a moment, he was paralysed with indecision. Should he pursue Rias Gremory, or meet with Souna to learn more?

But it was only a moment. He didn't know what would happen when he finally met Rias Gremory, but if she really was the Devil that resurrected him then he wanted to be prepared. So he really had no choice but to go and meet Souna. He definitely wouldn't be mentioning this encounter to her.

But at least now, he had a clue who was the cause of his troubles.

* * *

"So, do you mind telling me why we're doing this outside?"

They were currently standing in the forested area near the academy. Souna had immediately escorted Kiyoshi there alongside Tsubaki, Reya Kusaka who I'd just been introduced to and for some reason Saji.

Souna stopped, and adjusted her glasses before speaking. "Given your recent encounters with the fallen angels, I decided it would be prudent to introduce you to the practical aspects of being a Devil first. It would be disappointing if I invested my time in teaching you only for you to perish."

Kiyoshi did his best not to sweatdrop at the casual way she talked about him dying. He couldn't stop his head from dropping though. "Yeah, that'd be horribly inconvenient wouldn't it?"

Souna just flat out ignored Kiyoshi's sarcasm and continued on. "This is far enough."

Kiyoshi took a brief look around. They were standing in a small clearing, by his reckoning they far enough away from the school that he could probably yell as loud as he could without being heard...

That wasn't an ominous thought at all. "I guess this is where I ask what we're doing first then?"

Souna took a step towards Kiyoshi, now standing within arms distance. "For now, we'll be covering the basics. Before that I would like to determine which piece you were reincarnated as."

That left him scratching his head in confusion. "That means absolutely nothing to me."

Souna crossed her arms while patiently giving her answer. "The method used to reincarnate an individual can use one of five pieces based on chess. Those pieces give a unique boost to the reincarnated individuals abilities. Those pieces are the queen, the bishop, the rook, the knight and-"

"The pawn." Kiyoshi finished her sentence, managing to follow the explanation easy enough. "So let me take a guess here. The queen has the biggest boost, the pawn can change to any of the others and I bet the rook has massive defence... Can't think of anything for the bishop or knight though."

Souna nodded, if you looked closely she might have had a small smile. "Mostly correct assumptions. The Knight gives a great boost to speed, the Rook gives amazing strength and defence, the Bishop increases magical ability, the Queen greatly increases all abilities and the pawn can 'promote' to any of the other pieces when in enemy territory."

Kiyoshi nodded his head in understanding. Even if he didn't really get why they used chess he was kind of glad they used something he was familiar with. "Alright, I get it. I guess you have a way of figuring out what they used on me?"

Souna uncrossed her arms while adjusting her glasses again. "Yes, with your permission I would like to do so now."

Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow. "'With my permission'? I thought you'd be more eager than that to learn what a potential nuisance is capable of."

She glared at him in response. "If you've been truthful up to this point then it would be understandable for you to be uncomfortable around myself and my peerage. I was merely trying to respect your circumstances."

He responded by lowering his head slightly, rubbing his neck hesitantly. "Sorry. I appreciate the gesture, I'm more than willing to go along with this if it helps me out down the line."

She nodded, before stepping forward and placing her palm on his chest. It took only a moment for Kiyoshi to feel an odd sensation in his chest. Like someone was gently pushing their fingers deep inside his chest, he actually had to look down to confirm that yes; her palm wasn't inside his chest.

A moment later she was done. Stepping away with a calculating expression on her face.

Then she once more adjusted her glasses before speaking. "Someone has made quite an investment on you. Tsukino-san. I found that eight pawns had been used to reincarnate you."

He blinked, before sighing. "Do I have to play the guessing game again? I'm assuming that means someone used up all the pawns they've got, since there are only eight a side in a chess game. I've got no idea why they'd do that though."

Souna frowned while responding. Before someone else butted in. "Hold on, this guy was worth eight pieces!? The hell's so special about him?" It definetely sounded like Saji.

She glared at him. He shut up. "To answer, people with special abilities or skills might require more pieces to be reincarnated. Only pieces of a same type can be used, and the value of each piece differs based on their value in chess. So you were correct, someone has invested all of their pawns into reincarnating you. Probably due to necessity, which makes your current situation all the more confusing. It is quite irresponsible to make such an investment and then abandon the project."

This time Kiyoshi did actually sweatdrop, wondering whether he should feel insulted or not at being labelled a 'project'.

Souna continued before he could think of a suitable reply, though it sounded like she was speaking to herself. "I'm quite curious what would warrant a full eight pieces. Perhaps a powerful sacred gear?"

Kiyoshi didn't say anything. He'd already realised that Souna assumed his encounter with Dohnaseek was random chance and that he hadn't learnt why he was originally targeted. It made sense he guessed, he had told her Dohnaseek thought he was a stray. He wasn't about to tell her he apparently had a god slaying weapon though, that kind of information seemed a little... dangerous.

She seemed to pay attention to Kiyoshi again, speaking directly to him rather than to herself. "Regardless, I would like to assess your ability in combat. You must be somewhat talented to fight a fallen angel wielding holy fire, but I would like to ensure it wasn't simply good fortune."

...He wasn't going to correct her assumption that Dohnaseek was the one throwing fire around.

Instead he just started nodding. "Alright, I don't mind showing off for a bit. What do you want me to do?"

She turned to Saji. "This would be a good opportunity for you as well, Saji. You might be his senior as a Devil, but from what I have been able to gather Tsukino-san has greater experience in conflict situations. I would like for the two of you to have a practice match. Do you have any complaints?"

Saji stepped forward, a grin on his face as he pumped his arm. "Yes, Kaichou! I'll enjoy wiping that smile off that pretty guys face!"

Kiyoshi just looked at him for a moment, then turned to Souna. "Alright, I'll admit I wouldn't have minded a fight yesterday. But after that comment I'm going to have to hurt him."

"Hey! don't go looking down on me." Saji was apparently upset at being dismissed.

"Well with your height how else am I gonna look at you?"

"You're an inch taller at most you damn pretty boy!"

"Enough." Souna forcefully interrupted the, rather pathetic, argument between the two boys. Massaging the bridge of her nose as she did. "This is meant to help the both of you, your bickering is pointless. Please prepare yourselves so that we can begin."

Kiyoshi waved it off with a 'fine' while Saji responded with his 'yes kaichou'. Then they both took up comfortable starting positions. They were out of reach of each other by about three feet. Both of them took up something resembling a fighter's stance, though Kiyoshi's was much more relaxed.

"Are you both prepared?" Her question was met with two nods. "Then begin."

Saji was moving first, stepping forward and throwing a right handed haymaker before Kiyoshi had even moved.

Kiyoshi stepped in, bringing up his arm and grabbing the back of his head with his left hand.

The result, was Saji running right into Kiyoshi's raising elbow while his own haymaker met Kiyoshi's arm rather than the side of his head. Saji took the elbow under his chin, rattling his teeth before Kiyoshi launched his own punch right into his diaphragm; the hit drove the air from his lungs even as it knocked him back a few paces.

Kiyoshi didn't pursue. He waited for Saji to get his breath back with all the patience of a guy that was convinced he'd already won. "Want to throw in the towel?"

Saji grit his teeth, and earned a few points in Kiyoshi's book when he responded with "like hell I'll give up after a tap like that."

Then he charged forward, body low in an attempt to tackle his opponent.

It almost caught Kiyoshi off guard, but like his punch he'd telegraphed it way too early. So Kiyoshi took a half step back and braced himself.

Saji hit him with more force than humanly possible, but Kiyoshi was well braced and now possessed more strength than humanly possible. So when Saji hit him he was barely knocked back. Saji grabbed him around the waist, and tried to lift him.

Only for Kiyoshi to get his hands under Saji's chine, grab his own wrists and then lift.

The action cut off the flow of oxygen to Saji's brain, Devil or not that was a bad thing. So it didn't take long for him to let go and try to get Kiyoshi off of him.

Kiyoshi complied, and shoved him away.

The difference between the two was clear. Saji was determined, but Kiyoshi was simply more experienced.

But still, Saji wasn't the type to give up easily.

"You're making your next move too obvious. Short hits, not those long shots like you started with."

And Kiyoshi couldn't help but respect that.

"I don't need any help from a pretty guy like you."

Despite his words, the next hit Saji threw went straight forward. The shortest path between his fist and Kiyoshi's face.

Kiyoshi's fists were high though, so it wasn't too hard to block and return with his own. Saji's arms were lower, so the same couldn't be said for him.

"Hands up higher, you need to protect your head."

"Ahhh! Would you shut up already!"

They exchanged blows again. This time Saji actually managed to block.

"Enough." They both stopped, and almost simultaneously turned towards Souna. In the short bout Kiyoshi had actually forgotten she was there. Saji had just been more concerned with smashing his opponent's face in.

Of course that little bout had only been a couple of minutes at most. It was hardly enough time for any sort of improvement from either of them. "Really? It seems like a waste to stop just as we were getting into it."

She didn't miss a beat, already having an answer ready. "The purpose was to ensure your skills were up to standard. They're sufficient for now, you can work on improving them further when you have more time... Though I would appreciate it if you would continue assisting Saji."

The guy in question slumped forward, uncomfortably aware of his new bruises. "I don't need this guy's help, Kaichou."

She adjusted her glasses again. "Perhaps I will rescind the request if you manage to beat him."

He just slumped forward further with a sigh, now glaring at Kiyoshi.

"Now then..." Souna turned to face Kiyoshi fully. "...You seem to have a good grounding in fighting physically, but there are other skills available to Devils in a battle." She stepped to the side and gestured to the last member of their little group. "Reya is one of my Bishops, I will be relying on her to teach you how to manipulate your demonic power."

Kiyoshi turned to face his new teacher, a resigned expression on his face. "Really now. Demonic power? That doesn't sound ominous at all."

Reya smiled politely in response. "It's not as bad as you're thinking. You might not have noticed, but since you were reincarnated you've a drifting aura of demonic power around your body. I'll be trying to teach you how to manipulate that in useful ways." She raised a hand, and almost immediately a ball of soft yellow light formed in her palm. "First, you'll need to be able to 'feel' the demonic power and gather it into a recognisable shape. Once you can do that everything else becomes much easier."

Kiyoshi just sighed and got on with it. He could already tell this was going to be a pain. Lifting up a hand, and opening it like Reya's, he did his best.

Now that he was looking for it, he could feel something. Like a charged cloud around his body. It took a few moments, but the energy started to gather in his palm. A small thing, just like a mist of dark blue energy.

It really did look like a cloud. He couldn't help but think it was like a thunderstorm waiting to happen. Then a spark jumped between his spread fingers. "Ah! Son of a-" The whole cloud dissipated instantly. Leaving him more than a little annoyed, especially when he heard Saji snickering in the background.

Reya leaned forwards, a slightly worried look on her face. "Ah, sorry. I should have mentioned, the foundation of controlling demonic energy is imagination. So you really need to concentrate, or something like that might happen."

He gave her a light glare, she returned with a slightly sheepish smile. It wasn't really her fault, but Kiyoshi felt better blaming the person teaching him than his own imagination.

He tried again, muttering to himself as he did so. "Imagination, huh?" The closed his eyes and focused on what he could feel instead of see.

And he still couldn't get it right.

With a grunt of frustration and an irritated expression he lowered his hand. "Sorry, I just can't seem to focus..." Then he turned to Souna while opening his eyes. "... I just don't get it. Why are you going out of your way to help me?"

She calmly replied while once more adjusting her glasses. "I have already told you my reasoning. It wouldn't do for an uneducated Devil to be wandering around unsupervised."

Kiyoshi didn't look at all convinced. "I'm guessing there are easier ways to get rid of me. We've already established that someone else reincarnated me, so that makes this whole thing their responsibility right? Besides that, you've got no way of knowing if anything I've told you is the truth. So... Why?"

She stayed silent for a moment before answering. "I suppose I can't fault your suspicion given the events of the past few days. However there are no ulterior motives in this situation. You are a student of this school, and I feel it is my duty to educate you."

He shook his head in exasperation. "That doesn't make any sense. If you were a teacher, I could buy that. But the student council president shouldn't have any kind of obligation like that. It's not like I came to you asking for help."

She had an answer ready this time. "It is my dream to create a school. One that is open to all Devils, regardless of status. That is the reason why I came here to learn. So that I could learn how schools here taught. So yes, I feel that I have an obligation to teach you. Because my dream is to create a place dedicated to just that."

He couldn't do anything but blink in surprise. He hadn't expected anything like that. Then he turned back around and got back to work. The words he muttered were low enough that they probably weren't meant to be heard, but for a Devil's enhanced hearing they were loud enough. "Well, I guess that's a pretty good dream."

And this time he managed to get it right. Though he didn't manage to make it into a ball.

"Is that a cross?" Reya questioned innocently.

He smiled. He'd already decided what he was going to make first with this skill. "Nope, it's a hilt."

"Alright." Souna's voice caught his attention again. "I suppose the basics are enough for today, we will be moving onto general knowledge and additional practice with Demonic power tomorrow. Is that acceptable?"

He nodded in response. Letting his power dissipate. "That's fine." Then he turned to walk away. But a niggling feeling in the back of his mind stopped him.

His face twisted in distaste for a moment. He knew why he was feeling off, but he knew that dealing with that problem might be a bit dangerous.

Well, this was just another item on his list of bad ideas right?

He turned to face her again."Shitori-san."

She just looked back, with that calm expression she always had. "Is there a problem, Tsukino-san?"

he sighed. His mind was made up now. Might as well try to make a show of it. So he lifted his right hand, and imagined that cross from his fight with Dohnaseek. Concentrating on it as firmly as he did when making that hilt.

And he wasn't disappointed. It appeared in a burst of purple fire.

"Could this be why it cost eight pawns to reincarnate me?"

She stared at him, visibly surprised. It was absolutely priceless.

"Dohnaseek, the fallen angel, he called it 'Incinerate Anthem'."

She recovered when she heard the name, then glared at him. "I see. That is quite the dangerous tool."

For a moment she just looked at him, not saying anything. He could almost see the gears turning in her head.

Then she turned around and began to walk away, speaking as she went. "I suggest you be careful who you reveal that to, Tsukino-san."

Reya stayed a moment with a curious expression on her face, before following Souna.

Saji was still staring when Kiyoshi turned away.

And that was when they parted ways for the night.

* * *

The next day was much the same as his last. Nothing really went wrong, nothing really went right. It was almost as if he'd finally returned to his normal routine. The only deviation being that he once again met Souna and was escorted to that forest.

Except this time it was just the two of them. "So, what's on the agenda for today's little outing?"

She stopped walking, probably deciding they were in the right spot. "I had planned to teach you more about Devils, starting with a few general traits and finishing with an introduction to our political situation. Unfortunately, this may be our last lesson. So most of that will have to be discarded if we are to have time to help you with your sacred gear."

She couldn't see it since he was behind her, but he definitely looked relieved when she mentioned not having time for politics. Of course, he had one question... "That's fine. But is there some reason this might be our last lesson? We only started yesterday."

She turned to face him. "I believe that I spoke with your King last night. Though she didn't explicitly state such a thing, I have been able to confirm that there are no other Devils in this city who possess a set of evil pieces. If that was not enough, her recent interest in you has convinced me."

That drained whatever relief Kiyoshi had left right out of him. "Really. I was expecting it to take longer."

Souna had a rather irritated look on her face. "Given the situation, she should have been present upon your awakening. It was irresponsible of her to leave you for so long with the Fallen active in this area."

Kiyoshi nodded, agreeing to be polite. Then he realised he needed to ask something. "Ah, Shitori-san. What exactly did you tell her?"

She adjusted her glasses, and Kiyoshi could have sworn he saw a ghost of a smile on her face. But he must have imagined it. "I did nothing more than answer her questions. Unfortunately those questions were largely irrelevant in the grander scheme of things. For example, it is not any fault of mine that she asked why Tsubaki delivered your bag to you, the truth of the matter is that it was merely found while we were patrolling. It is also unfortunate that she asked only why I wanted to see you in person, I simply wanted to confirm whether you had gotten into any fights lately."

...He definitely noticed her smiling near the end there. Actually, Kiyoshi wasn't even sure that she was still speaking to him. "Eh, did she upset you or something?"

That smile vanished immediately and Souna glared at him. "Your King, Rias Gremory, is my rival. For her to do something as irresponsible as allow her new pawn to fend for himself after being killed by Fallen Angels... That irresponsibility reflects badly on myself as her rival."

Kiyoshi blinked. It was one of those moments where he really just had no words. It passed when things started to get a little awkward. "Ah, thank you then. I think."

She started adjusting her glasses again. Kiyoshi was beginning to think that was some sort of tell. "There is no need to thank me, Tsukino-san. I only ask that you be yourself when you finally meet Rias, but keep in mind the things I am about to tell you."

When she said 'be yourself', he couldn't help but feel... Offended. But he still nodded for her to continue.

In response, her face became as serious as the grave. "It is very important that you know what a stray Devil is..." The moment the words exited her mouth she captured his attention. "...Stray Devils are those that have abandoned their masters. Without their king to keep their powers in check, they will become a great threat once their own power grows beyond their control. In such a situation, madness and mutation are not uncommon. I will warn you now, and only once. Any Devil that becomes a stray will be killed on the spot, and they will be granted no protection from the Church or Fallen."

If she'd have said such a thing in the same tone just two days earlier, he would have assumed she was threatening him. Now though, he took it for what it was. She was simply informing him of the consequences if he pushed Rias too far. "I'll keep that in mind." And he meant it, he had no intentions of forgetting the favours Souna had done him. It would be a poor way to repay her if he got himself killed.

She stared at him for a moment. Looking for something. Whatever it was she found it, and nodded to herself before continuing. "Good. So long as you keep that in mind, and restrain yourself from doing anything too rash, you should be fine. I have also managed to find information regarding your sacred gear. Would you-"

She didn't need to go any further. His cross appeared in a burst of purple fire before she finished.

"Thank you." He raised his hand as she leaned forward, inspecting the silver cross for a moment. "It's as I thought. This is not the natural form of Incinerate Anthem."

He didn't have a clue what that was supposed to mean. "I kinda hoped we'd gotten past the guessing game."

She straightened back up, ignoring his little comment. "Incinerate Anthem does not have a physical form. Or to be more precise, the form of Incinerate Anthem is the fire that it creates. This cross of yours is a unique variant called a sub-species. Sometimes these new variants have special abilities, but it is equally likely that it is simply a cosmetic change. It is most likely a form like this would simply be easier for you to focus on and control."

He crossed his arms and nodded his head, thinking over what that meant. "Okay, so it's basically a unique little quirk that may or may not have a special ability. I was told that it can create pillars of fire, do you mind explaining that?"

She nodded. "Yes, the primary ability of Incinerate Anthem is the creation of holy fire. Often taking the form of a cross. I could not find any details given the short time allowed for me to research, but in general holy fires are incredibly dangerous to Devils. Combined with the ability to create these fires at a distance and with little warning, Incinerate Anthem is an intimidating weapon to face. It is also a Longinus, one of the thirteen unique sacred gears that could potentially kill a god."

He uncrossed his arms. Starting to get a little eager to try it out. "Okay. So to sum it up, I can make geysers of anti-Devil fire that might be able to kill a god... Is there anywhere I can practice? I get the feeling that it'd be a major issue if I accidentally incinerated someone important." It took a moment for him to realise what he'd said. "Ah, no pun intended."

She gestured to the area around them. "The rest of the student council are maintaining a barrier around the area. I believe the barrier should be sufficient to prevent any excessive damages or the discovery of your Longinus. I would suggest you aim for a large target first and attempt to use the least amount of power."

He took a look around the clearing, finding a random tree to aim at. "That sounds like a good idea... Ah, that one... Hold on, what do we do if the fires get out of control?"

She responded by lifting her hand, and Kiyoshi was treated to the sight of water manipulation beyond anything he could have dreamed of. From thin air water gathered into the forms of various animals from a wolf to a hawk. "Do not worry, I have some proficiency in water magic."

His eye twitched. That was kind of scary, but also the kind of thing he'd be aspiring to from now on. If he could do something like that with fire, maybe dying would have been worth it. "Right, well then I guess there's only one thing to say..." He raised his arm high into the air, as though confidently raising his hand to answer a question. "Fire in the hole!" Then brought it slashing down as a pillar of purple fire erupted around a tree barely four metres from them.

The fire was intense enough to reduce it to a smoking blackened wreck within moments, the heat coming from it was almost painful even from four metres away.

A shimmering barrier of crimson light erupted near the summit of the pillar.

Then it died down. Leaving only natural flames to eat away at whatever was left.

A wave of fatigue crashed down on his body barely an instant after the fire had been conjured. That had definitely been a bit more than he was aiming for.

He heard a sigh from next to him, before water doused the remaining flames with pinpoint precision. "That did not appear to be your least amount of power."

He laughed nervously for a moment. "Ah, yeah. I might have gone a bit overboard. But, well... I think I have a bigger problem."

She looked at him with an odd expression. "I don't see any other problems. You successfully conjured the flames of Incinerate Anthem and the fires were easily contained."

He just kept on laughing, as though trying to downplay the problem. "Well, you see. The one I was aiming for was about ten metres back and three to the right."

She looked back, trying to find his target. "Ah. Yes, it would be best to improve your accuracy."

* * *

A cry of frustration cut through the relative silence.

"Tsukino-san. Please calm yourself. Your irritation is doing us no favours."

They'd been at it for about an hour, and he was really starting to feel the exhaustion.

"I know that." He grit out in response. "But they just keep getting farther, and farther, and farther from where I'm aiming!"

He let loose another pillar of flames. Missing his target by a grand total of sixteen metres. The intensity of the attack was much greater than when he had started, likely fuelled by his growing fury.

"That is likely because you are allowing your failures to antagonise you. Calm down and focus before you injure yourself."

He did just that. The focusing part at least. He wouldn't be able to calm down until he'd actually hit that damn tree. it was the same one he'd aimed at from the start, and it's immaculate bark was mocking him.

He'd tried numerous methods of aiming. He'd tried remaining stationary, he'd tried using a throwing motion as if tossing a grenade, he'd tried aiming his hand as though it were a gun. All to varying degrees of failure.

The problem was that it didn't feel right to remain stationary, he tried to take gravity into account when tossing a grenade, he'd imagined environmental conditions messing with his shot when he tried to use a gun. The simple fact was, he was overthinking it. And he knew it. That was the worst part.

And that was why he was continuing despite his exhaustion.

"Perhaps you should focus on an image that does not require reasoning." Souna's words broke his focus. "It stands to reason that if you are having trouble with logical actions as a focus, then perhaps you should try something illogical."

He hated to admit it, but the idea had merit. If he was overthinking it because his logic dictated that something should happen, then perhaps using something that he couldn't apply his logic to would work better. He smiled, Souna might have stepped back.

He had the perfect idea.

He lifted his right hand, thumb and middle finger pressed together. Aiming the tip of his middle finger at that damnable tree. It was a straight line, nothing but air between him and his target.

Then his fingers clicked.

And that god forsaken tree was lit up like a bonfire. Utterly consumed by some of his strongest flames yet.

The flames cut out, and he swiftly stepped forward while raising his left hand.

The fingers clicked again, and a much more precise burst of fire engulfed the base of the tree.

There was a beat of total silence, only the crackle of dying fires could be heard. Then he started laughing. "It's about damn time!"

Once more those impossible precise burst of water extinguished the remaining flames. "That is an exceptional improvement. To be able to suddenly control both accuracy and magnitude, it's surprising."

When she looked at him, she saw he was grinning like a mad man. "It was your idea. Instead of using something like a gun, I borrowed a page from an anime I saw a while back. A guy could create explosions by changing the composition of the atmosphere and creating a spark by clicking his fingers." He laughed again. "I don't even know the first thing about that, so there's nothing for me to overthink."

She nodded to herself. "I see. It's heartening to see that this last lesson was productive. But I believe we have run out of time, unless your prior arrangements could be cancelled?"

Kiyoshi let out a confused, hmm? Before pulling out an old flip phone and checking the time. "Ah, you're right. If I leave it any longer I might be late. Then, see you around Shitori-san."

With that he turned to walk away, waving as he did. Before stopping for a moment. "Ah, right. You asked me to give Saji a hand with his fighting right? I could probably spend an hour in the mornings if he's got the time. And, thanks for all the help."

Without waiting for a response, he started jogging away. He couldn't exactly afford to be late for work.

His boss could be a real demon.

* * *

Chapter End

* * *

First off, sorry it's basically one big infodump. I wanted to get as much of it out of the way as possible, hopefully it wasn't too boring

And for this chapter, i'd like to thank RealmOfEmptiness for once more being my sounding board. I also want to thank Tony0423 for agreeing to be my beta and a new addition, Mahesvara has been helping out as one of my wonderful readers to make sure this chapter was the same quality as the first.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, wow. First thing's first, I feel like I need to apologise. A lot of crap happened over the past couple of months that just kind of sucked the time and inspiration necessary to write completely out of me. That's partly the reason why it's kind of a short update, the other part being that the point it ends on just felt like the right time to end the chapter. I'm not sure when I'll get back to writing massive 6-8 thousand word chapters, but I guess it mostly depends on what I want to cover in that chapter.

Anyway, enough boring talk from me. Let's get on with the chapter.

* * *

Chapter Start

* * *

It looked like a normal scene. A boy, a woman that could be his mother, and a man that was probably his father. They were walking along a beach.

Except for the young man standing off to the side.

Kiyoshi was standing, as separated from the scene as he could possibly be while still observing. A rueful smile on his face.

"Really now, dreams like this aren't any good if you figure out you're dreaming."

He thought that, because the scene in front of him was absolutely impossible. There was no going back to those days. But that thought didn't stop him from enjoying the nostalgic scene.

"Eyes forward, kid." Kiyoshi span around, eyes slightly wide with the shock of hearing an unfamiliar voice.

As he made a hundred and eighty degree turn, the seaside around him melted into nothingness. Replaced by an expansive cavern, with Kiyoshi himself standing on a well constructed stone bridge leading to some sort of temple upon a mountain of stairs. An eerie bloody liquid seemed to be flowing upwards, following channels carved into the structure of the temple.

But the things that stuck out the most?

Golden chains encircled the entire structure, and purple fire ignited the bloody liquid.

And standing there, in between Kiyoshi and that chained temple, was a man he didn't recognise.

No, that would be a lie. He recognised a lot of the features he saw in mirrors on the man's face. If anything, he looked like an older version of Kiyoshi with silver hair and a foot extra height.

The man was smiling in amusement. "Oh? So you heard me? That's good. This would be a difficult partnership otherwise."

Kiyoshi's eyes flickered to the sides, viewing the area before he made any commitments. The man just grinned a little wider. "Yeah. I can hear you loud and clear, but that doesn't mean you're making sense. What partnership do we have?"

The man stepped forward, arms wide as he gestured around them. "I'm sure you can guess. But here's a hint. Our fates were entwined before your very first breath."

Kiyoshi relaxed. Whoever the man was, he didn't appear to be an immediate threat. "Before my first breath? So before I was even born then?.. Ah. Could you be a part of Incinerate Anthem?"

The man brought his hands together in a slow, mocking clap. "My oh my, got it in the first try. Was my hint a little too much after your little chat with the crow?"

Kiyoshi crossed his arms and scowled at him. "I didn't know Incinerate Anthem had any sort of consciousness..." He sighed and rubbed his head before continuing. "Then I'd like to request your continued support. Things seem like they'll be getting hectic soon."

The man froze and tilted his head to the side. "Request? That's a new one. Normally my hosts are the psychopathic ones that take whatever they please."

If that piece of information bothered him, Kiyoshi didn't let it show. "Well, I'm not like them I guess. By the way, do you have a name yourself? 'Incinerate Anthem' doesn't exactly sound like a person's name."

The man made an odd expression. As though he didn't quite understand the question for a moment. before laughing out loud. "Really, you are an odd one... Name? I've never been give such a thing. But if you want to call me something then..." The grin that split his face was just a few centimetres shy of cutting his head off. "Call me Angra."

And immediately upon hearing that, purple flames erupted from the surroundings and consumed Kiyoshi's vision.

"And I'm sure you'll end up just like the rest."

* * *

Kiyoshi shot up in his bed, immediately noticing that the silver cross of Incinerate Anthem was hanging from his wrist.

He looked at it for a moment. It had been an extremely odd dream... Was it somehow connected to Incinerate Anthem activating in his sleep?

He shrugged it off a moment later, dismissed the sacred gear. Then got on with his his daily routine. Or at least, the new variation he'd started putting together the other night.

The problem with the old routine, was that it just wasn't pushing him far enough to really make a difference. The difference between his old physical limits and his new ones were like night and day. There was simply nothing he could do in the surrounding area that would both improve his fitness and not attract unwanted attention.

Although he really did want to see the look on people's faces as he jogs past with a boulder strapped to his back.

In the end, he decided to put a hold on his physical exercises until he could find a way to learn Dohnaseek's teleportation trick. With something like that, he could spend a couple of hours in the morning training up on a mountain and be back home in time for breakfast and school.

His new routine was instead focused on developing his newer talents. Like making swords out of demonic energy.

It wasn't a particularly difficult exercise. He just spent half an hour building on the foundations he'd established the night before. It was simple really, manipulating demonic energy relied on imagination so it was simply a matter of imagining the feel of his own sword and building up from there. After getting home last night he'd managed to create one strong enough to cut into a tree without shattering.

The second part of his new little training regime was the annoying part. It involved fire. Quite a bit of fire, actually. But none of it holy. Because summoning a sacred gear that can kill gods probably wasn't a good idea in a residential area. So he instead spent half an hour trying his best to create and control some regular flames.

After he nearly set fire to the rug he moved it outside.

By the end of the last half hour of practice, he was able to create a decent sized ball of flame. Controlling it was a completely different matter, unless of course flinging it as far away as possible after almost burning his hand counted.

Everything went as normal from there. Right up until the end of the school day.

For some reason, right as Kiyoshi was gathering up his books and piling them in his bag, the air was split by the squealing of a dozen teenage girls. He winced and straightened up. That noise grated on his nerves, it usually meant some pretty boy was walking past.

Well, he had no desire to stick around if it meant he might be subjected to the torturous noise of giggling schoolgirls. So he turned to leave, only to have his path blocked by someone completely unexpected.

"Hi. How are you doing?"

Kiyoshi was caught flat-footed. The disarming smile of the person in front of him only left him with one response. He raised a hand and casually responded. "Yo, not bad. Yourself?"

The person blocking his path was known as the academy's number one good looking prince, Kiba Yuuto. He was basically the reason Kiyoshi's ears were ringing right now. "I'm doing well, Tsukino-san. Gremory-senpai asked me to bring you to her."

It took all of two seconds for Kiyoshi to realise who he was talking about. Rias Gremory. His 'king'.

Kiyoshi was surprised, and a little insulted, that she'd sent a lackey instead of getting him herself. But he didn't let that show on his face.

If she was going to leave him in the dark for a full week when there were people wandering around that would just love to kill him, well then he was going to enjoy returning the favour. So he decided to play dumb. "Really? Why would Gremory-senpai want to see me?"

He looked apologetic for a moment. "I'm sorry, but Gremory-senpai wants to explain in person. Would you please come with me?"

Honestly, he was being so polite about it that Kiyoshi might have felt bad turning him down. That didn't mean he wasn't going to mess with him though. "Ah, fine then. Lead the way. It's not like I'll be walking into a house full of devils right?"

Kiyoshi saw his face twitch for a moment, before his smile solidified again... It was kind of a disappointing reaction, but Kiyoshi would definetely be making up for it soon enough. For now, he'd just have to follow along.

He regretted his decision as soon as he heard the girls complaining about Kiyoshi 'corrupting' Kiba with his violent nature.

He almost turned around and abandoned the meeting when another group decided they supported a KiyoshixKiba pairing.

That last idea was just too scary to contemplate, he immediately resolved to find and master the art of memory manipulation just to erase that image. Failing that he'd settle for a reinforced concrete wall, massive head trauma seemed like an equally effective way of destroying his short term memory.

It didn't take long to find where Rias was waiting for him. It was one of the old school buildings. If he was remembering correctly, it was the clubhouse for the occult research club. Though he'd never had reason to come anywhere near here.

Kiba was kind enough to open the door for me after calling out "buchou, I have brought him." And receiving the reply to "Come in."

Kiyoshi was about to make a sarcastic comment, when the sound of running water brought him up short.

He took about four more steps into the room before he just stopped dead. He couldn't have looked any more incredulous if he'd been trying.

It wasn't the admittedly beautiful Akeno Himejima standing near the back of the room with a towel. It wasn't the childlike girl sitting on the sofa eating snacks. It wasn't even the occult symbols plastered all over the room.

Nope.

At the back of the room there was a translucent curtain. The figure of another girl could be seen through it and it was definetely the source of the sound of running water. It took him a moment to comprehend that yes, there was a shower at the back of the room. And yes, there was someone using that shower. And also, yes. It was more than likely the person that asked him to come here.

By the time Kiyoshi's brain rebooted, Kiba was addressing the girl on the sofa. "This is Kiyoshi Tsukino-kun."

The girl bowed to Kiyoshi slightly in response. For some reason she didn't feel the need to give her own name. Was he supposed to know her already?

Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow at Kiba's suddenly familiar term of address. But nonetheless returned the polite action. "A pleasure to meet you."

She just ignored him after the short introduction and went back to eating. He decided she was an odd girl, but he didn't mind people that kept to themselves.

Then the sound of the water stopped. And there was a short exchange where Akeno handed over the towel to who he was increasingly sure was Rias. Not long afterwards the curtain was parted, and Kiyoshi saw Rias for himself.

He had to admit, she was pretty attractive in her uniform. Especially with her damp hair and- He stopped those thoughts dead.

Rias was the first to speak. "Sorry, I didn't get a chance to shower last night. So I took a shower now."

He couldn't help it any longer. His palm rose at a steady pace, and pressed itself firmly against his eyes. "Okay. Sorry. I'm really going to have to ask something before we continue with the introductions." He removed his hand and levelled a narrowed gaze at Rias. "...Was that an attempt to seduce me, or are you some kind of exhibitionist?"

There was a beat of utter silence.

Then a few things happened. For one, Akeno started snickering behind her hand. Rias started turning the same shade as her hair. Kiba coughed into his hand as he turned away. And the gluttonous girl... Just kept eating. It was odd, where did she even get that many snacks from?

"I am not an exhibitionist!"

The denial came out loud enough that they probably heard her from the main school building. But the way she stamped her foot and glared at kiyoshi just made her look like some sort of kitten that had just been thrown in the bath. It was quite funny actually.

Kiyoshi took a seat on the arm of one of the sofas. "Ah, so you're not denying you were trying to seduce me?" He questioned while tilting his head to the side. Trying very hard to look innocent, but the grin gave him away.

Rias opened her mouth, whether to confirm or deny remained unknown because Akeno cut in and interrupted her. "Ufufu, sorry. Rias has always had trouble with modesty around family and close friends."

Kiyoshi didn't know exactly how to take that. He figured it had something to do with being her peerage, but still felt it was a little odd. He decided to let it go though, he had a little something he'd wanted to say for a couple of days now. "Is that so? Well, I have to say Gremory-senpai, at least, is a lot different to what I was expecting."

That seemed to distract Rias enough for her to calm down and cease her tomato impression. "Oh? And what were you expecting?"

She narrowed her eyes a bit in confusion when Kiyoshi's grin turned mischievous as he answered. "I was actually expecting you to be some kind of cross dresser that steals the hearts of maidens and rides a camel to school."

That threw everyone completely off. They all took a moment to just stare at Kiyoshi, even the girl with the snacks stopped eating just to look at him. Rias was the one who gave voice to their collective "huh?"

Kiyoshi just kept on grinning like he was in on some secret joke as he answered. "Well it's just my assumption, but you're related to the Duke Gremory right?"

That flipped a switch on the atmosphere. Swinging it from light hearted confusion to a tense atmosphere of surprise. Then Rias laughed. "Oh, you've been reading the Ars Goetia? That's not something I would have expected from someone with your reputation, Kiyo."

His smile became a little strained at the familiar use of his name. "You'd normally be right. It's not my kind of thing. But it'd be pretty stupid to not even try and research a devil named Gremory when there's one going to the same school as me."

Rias smiled. The atmosphere didn't lighten up in the slightest. "Ah, so you did know. I almost thought for a moment you were just being rude. Am I right in guessing it was Souna that told you?"

"Well, she gave me your name. But a little bird was the first to explain things to me." It was almost imperceptible, but now that the good mood was gone Kiyoshi seemed to be glaring ever so slightly at the girl across from him with a face that became just a little bit less forgiving.

Rias finally took a seat opposite Kiyoshi. Smiling all the while. "I suppose that saves us some time then. If Souna explained things, then do you know about peerages?"

Kiyoshi grinned as he spoke in a heated tone. It was painfully obvious how fake it was. "Oh yes, and I have just a few issues with the whole thing." Rias stopped smiling. Suddenly realising that there was a problem. "First of all, I don't appreciate it when people leave me to die for their own gain."

Her eyes widened, recognising the accusation. "Hold on-"

Kiyoshi ploughed on. Ignoring her attempted explanation as the heat in his voice rose. "Secondly I dislike being left in the dark for most off a week after people killed me."

She once again tried to explain. "I was-"

And he kept going. Words being fueled by anger and indignation even as the rest of Rias' peerage sat undecided on how they should help their king. "Thirdly I find it insulting that you sent an errand boy to pick me up."

This time Kiba let out an offended "hey" before being promptly ignored.

"And finally, there's one key thing that's been engraved into my memory. " kiyoshi raised his right hand, tapping the side of his head with his index and middle finger with enough force for the tap to be heard across the table. "It's a sound." Another tap. His voice took on a tone of unmistakable anger that stole away any chance of Rias rebutting his complaints. "A sound that's been driving me mad." A final tap, he held the fingers there. His voice became deathly calm. "Do you know what it is?"

Rias was quite, desperately trying to think of a way to salvage the situation. Before uttering a single "no."

Kiyoshi almost lazily lowered his raised hand to point at Rias. His voice trembling just a bit with suppressed fury. "It's you. Laughing as I died." He lowered the hand, and made absolutely no effort to conceal his anger any longer. "So tell me, do you think I'm going to be your pawn after hearing that?"

The room went totally silent for a while. Broken only when Kiyoshi started laughing. "Yeah, that's what I expected. I don't think a spoiled princess li-hurk!" A flash of light was the only warning he got before his muscles seized up and he fell from his spot on the sofa. Landing awkwardly on his arm. Raising his head he saw that Akeno was laughing lightly into a raised hand. Lightning arcing between her fingers.

She spoke behind her raised hand. "Oh, sorry. I can't help it when-" She was interrupted when she had to protect herself from an unexpected burst of fire. It was comparable to a makeshift flamethrower made from a can of hairspray and a lighter, it would have been an amusing attack if the sheer surprise of it hadn't made Akeno reflexively shield herself from the ridiculous underpowered attack. The result was like tossing a pebble at a wall.

Unfortunately for Rias and her peerage, Kiyoshi had been on a hair trigger since he started his little rant. Every little bit of frustration and fury at his situation had seeped to the surface of his mind, Akeno's 'chastisement' was just the last push that set off this violent reaction. And it was far from done.

The fires obscured Akeno's vision, preventing her from seeing Kiyoshi lunge from his position. That alone wouldn't be dangerous at all, he was just out of reach of doing anything worthwhile. But when his demonic energy condensed into the form of a four foot broadsword, the threat of injury rose drastically.

She might have been in a little bit of danger, if the attack wasn't stopped before it even gained momentum. A hand wrapped around Kiyoshi's right wrist while he was still in a half crouched position.

Kiba had moved so fast that Kiyoshi hadn't even realised he was moving until he'd gotten a grip on his arm. "Let's not be-"

Unfortunately for Kiba, the boy he was holding had already committed himself to violent action. Kiyoshi hadn't trusted any of them since he walked in, and he wasn't going to let them put him in a disadvantageous position willingly. So he didn't stop to wait for Kiba to finish. He grabbed Kiba's wrist with the hand Kiba was also holding, surprising the blonde with the action, then yanked him closer. Kiba might have been much faster, but Kiyoshi was stronger. And Kiba had no way to stop himself from being pulled in. The action was even shocking enough for him to release his hold on Kiyoshi's wrist.

Opening up the blonde to a textbook hip throw after Kiyoshi dismissed the blue blade and hooked his arm under Kiba's and around his back. Kiba landed on his right side, his forearm landing flat on the ground. In a split second decision Kiyoshi took advantage of that to eliminate potentially the fastest person in the room. He stamped down hard on Kiba's forearm, he didn't hear the expected sound of snapping bones but Kiba's yell definetely made it sound painful. But that was just a way to keep his hand flat. The reason for that was the condensing demonic energy that Kiyoshi thrust down in a reverse grip with his left hand. It formed into a slimmer broadsword, closer to a rapier, the instant before the point met Kiba's hand, and his yell intensified when the blade pierced through and into the floor below. Pinning his hand to the floor.

The sound a footstep called Kiyoshi's attention to the side, and he lashed out with a newly forming blade. Only to stop halfway through the motion when he noticed it was the youngest person in the room standing next to him. Even through his fury, he was reluctant to harm a little girl.

Even if she was glaring at him as she told him to "get lost."

Then pain exploded below his ribs and he was flying through the air. Then there was a loud crash, his back hurt like he'd gone through a brick wall and her could see the sky above him before he hit the ground. He was a little surprised to feel grass under his fingertips.

Leaning up rewarded him with another spike of pain through everything. But he pushed through it tried to stand, unwilling to show any sign of weakness.

While he was at it, he decided that he would very much like to harm a specific little girl.

He stumbled, once, before making it to his feet. A glance in the direction he flew from showed a hole easily large enough for someone to walk through. Rias Gremory was about to do just that.

Purple fire flared into life around his wrist for a moment, leaving behind the form of incinerate anthem as Kiyoshi raised his hand.

Consequences be damned. He'd show that arrogant girl exactly what he could throw at her.

A memory flickered through his mind, a black haired girl who'd helped him with no expectation of being rewarded.

It was only a last second decision that prompted him to shift his aim at the last moment. Instead of aiming directly at his would be 'king', he instead aimed at the space between them. Filling the space with a monolithic cross of flames.

He had a debt to that girl. If he'd continued that foolish action, she'd have suffered the repercussions as well. That was no way to repay a debt.

When the flames died down, Rias was standing perfectly still eyes visibly wide even from Kiyoshi's position. Kiyoshi himself was standing tall, still in pain but unwilling to show it.

For some unknown reason, an old quote came to Kiyoshi's mind. He felt it was appropriate. "There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favours done them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude. I'm not one of them. If you want anything from me, you'd better have something that I desperately want in return."

Without waiting for a response he turned and left. Leaving Rias staring at his back, and wondering exactly what had happened to make things go so wrong.

* * *

Chapter end


End file.
